Age of Sigmar/Tactics/Order/Lumineth Realm-Lords

Grand Alliance Order Lumineth Realm-Lords

FOR ULTHUAN HYSH!!!!!

Lore Tactics General Tactics

The time of isolation is over, and now the Lumineth Realm-lords (not capitalizing the "-L") finally rise to defeat the forces of chaos with their unwavering resolve, unstoppable magic, angry cow people, stupid and impractical headgear even by this setting's standards and crippling drug addiction! (No really, that last part is actually part of their rules)

New battletome incoming!

Why Play Lumineth Realm Lords?

• You were a big fan of High Elves in The World that Was.
• You saw 300 Alexander the Great and thought to yourself "Yeah, this is cool, but you know what would be awesome? If they had pointy ears and a drug addiction!"
• Because you agree with most people that Eltharion was done dirty in The End Times and thought he deserved a new chance to shine.
• Because you want a more defensive playstyle with very durable infantry and a lot of flanking and ranged firepower.
• While you are an Elf fan, you also secretly like Dwarfs and want a factions that mixes elements of both.

Pros:

• Extremely durable core options with your Vanari units being able to automatically give enemies -1 to hit for your standard spears, archers and cavalry.
• If you absolutely need to hit a unit before it gets away or fights back, you can with Lightning Reactions.
• You can give your units buffs out the ass, and you don't need magic to do so.
• Speaking of magic, did we mention all your Vanari units are mages? You are *the* magic army, with only the likes of Tzeentch being able to keep up with you... and then you could take Teclis, who gives Lords of Change penis envy. Nobody expects Geminds and Lifeswarms to come out of your battleline.
• You can't throw a rock without hitting something that deals Mortal Wounds.
• Very powerful HQ choices. Obviously they have Teclis but if you don't want/can't afford him their other options are pretty damn good.
• Sweet spell lores. Being able to drop all enemy Bravery, make all your opponent's command abilities cost double, or giving one of your units Ethereal means you have a spell for every situation.
• Horde factions are going to hate your guts because you have a lot of ways to get cheap, plentiful models off the field.
• You can turn the main weakness of using Aetherquartz, the -1 to bravery, and give it to your enemy, giving factions like Grots and Skaven a massive middle finger.

Cons:

• Remember all those buffs we mentioned above? Well, most come with drawbacks. Sure, you can get your wardens to give the enemy -1 to hit having their models all touching, but now they can't run or charge. Sure you can break into your Aetherquartz reserve to give your troops a rush, but now they have -1 to bravery. You need to make sure you are using them at the best time to mitigate the drawbacks.
• No multi-casters outside of bringing Teclis or snorting crystal meth using aetherquartz.
• You are currently the slowest of the Aelven factions (quite the oxymoron), though this will be mitigated a fair bit by the new wave of models.
• The models are bad to transport. There's a lot of bits sticking off them like weapons, tassels and braids. The Vanari Dawnrider models are only connected to their bases by one hoof from their horsies. They'll likely need the Nighthaunt or Sylvaneth solution.
• Their bravery is mediocre, and gets even worse if they use aetherquartz.
• Your only allies are your edgy cousins from the sea, questionable lore be damned.
• Though you have the military style down from the High Elves, you traded the awesome stuff like Dragons, Lions, and eagles for weird furies Elemental spirits and amalgamation mounts.

Army Rules

Battle Traits

• AETHERQUARTZ RESERVE: This is your big army-wide resource, more akin to the Kharadron's Aethergold in application. Every unit in your army has a single share of Aetherquartz. Once per phase, you can let one unit blow their reserves for one of the following powers below. However, using it has drawbacks: After using it, the unit suffers Drug withdrawal -1 to their Bravery for the rest of the game.
  • Heightened Senses: Triggered before the unit shoots or fights. The unit adds +1 to hit with any attacks they make for this phase (Shooting/Combat Phase).
  • Heightened Reflexes: +1 Save when chosen as an attack target (Shooting/Combat Phase).
  • Magical Boost: +1 or reroll cast (Your Hero Phase).
  • Magical Insight: Cast an extra spell (Your Hero Phase).
• ABSORB DESPAIR: Once per phase, a Cathallar wholly within 18" of a unit who uses an Aetherquartz can absorb it. If they do, don't reduce that units Bravery by 1 and instead choose an enemy unit within 18" of the Cathallar and reduce its Bravery by 1 for the rest of the battle. An enemy unit can't be affected by this more than once per battle. Its effectiveness depends on your opponent. It's great against some armies (nearly all Destruction armies will hate this), but worthless against others (Ossiarch Bonereapers laugh this off). However, your unit still shrugs off the -1 to its Bravery, even if there is no eligible enemy target.
• LIGHTNING REACTIONS: When you get to select a unit to fight, instead of picking only 1, you get to pick 2 units with this ability. They then fight one after the other.
• SHINING COMPANY: Any Vanari units (Auralan Sentinels, Wardens, bladelords, and Dawnriders) that is set up where a model is touching bases with two other models is automatically made a Shining Company, encouraging block-like tactics of old. Units in this fashion are harder to hit with a -1 to hit them., but they can't run or charge and they only get a pile-in distance of 1". It's better to stagger your models in the crook of the circle bases than it is to line up in a proper rectangle. BE VERY CAREFUL when pulling casualties to make sure you don't accidentally lose the buff, since it's gone for good once it is.
• ENDURING AS ROCK: Before the first battle round of the game and at the start of your hero phases, you can set up any number of Alarith units (Hammerboys, stonemages, and Moontains) into the Mountain Stance. Until the end of your next Hero Phase, your units now ignore Rend -1. There is currently no reason to opt out of doing this. Always have it on.
• TECTONIC FORCE: At the end of all combat phases, your Alarith units can each nominate an enemy unit within 1" of them (Though two units can't nominate the same enemy). The enemy is then shoved 2" in any direction so long as they are more than 1" from any Alarith unit and then you can let these units within 3" pile in 1" to continue fighting. This is your means of dominating the objective game and tossing enemies into deadly terrain.
• MOVE LIKE THE WIND: Any time a Hurakan unit piles in, it doesn't need to pile in to the closest enemy model. In addition, when they charge, they can fly and move 3" for piling in. All of it helps establish their role as alpha-strikers, the pile-in trick helping them move to more favorable fights.

Command Traits

LORDS OF BRILLIANCE

Cathallar only.

1. Spellmaster: Once per turn in your Hero phase, you can re-roll 1 failed casting attempt.
2. Loremaster: Your General knows 1 extra spell from the Lore of Hysh
3. Warmaster: When your general is on the field, at the start of your Hero phase, you get a CP on a 4+.

If you're bringing a Cathallar you could honestly go for any of these. Spellmaster is strong enough, as there's so many good spells you really want to go off. Loremaster is good if you want some more versatility from your spellcaster and if you give it a Silver Wand you could get a caster that can get a ton of magical value in one turn. Warmaster can get you some nice AP if you're lucky though if you want consistency from your general you're better off with the other two.

LORDS OF STONE

Alarith only, so for right now, just floaty rock guy

1. Majestic: Add 1 to Bravery of friendly Lumineth wholly within 12" of the General. Also, your enemies subtract 1 from Bravery while they are within 18" of the General.
2. Enduring: Add 3 to the General's wounds characteristic.
3. Loremaster: General knows 1 extra spell from the Lore of High Peaks.

Majestic seems boring, but with all the bravery debuffs in this army, you could easily have most of the opposing army at -3 Bravery while you're able to at least walk off the Bravery penalty of spending your share of Aetherquartz. A few casualties over multiple units could see elite armies heading for the hills real quick. Enduring isn't bad when the big hat man is public enemy number one for keeping your war cows at top bracket, improving Rend of Cow Elves around him, and providing re-rolls to saves in the Moo Cow battalion. A very good choice when mixing the various defensive buffs available to him. Loremaster is, obviously, a solid enough choice.

Artefacts

HEIRLOOMS OF HYSH

Cathallar only.

1. Phoenix Stone: If a friendly Lumineth Realm-Lords Hero is slain within 12" of the bearer, before removing that model from play, roll a dice. On a 6 that model is not slain, all wounds allocated to it are healed and any wounds that currently remain to be allocated to it or its unit are negated
2. Silver Wand: The bearer can cast 1 extra spell in their hero phase.
3. Blade of Leaping Gold: Pick 1 of the Bearer's weapons. Add 3 to the Attacks characteristic of that weapon.

• You will be taking the Silver Wand. Everything else is currently hot garbage. The Phoenix Stone has it's uses, with it not being 1 use, but it's still very unreliable. Maybe in a hero heavy list it has a place. The Blade of Leaping Gold would be great if you had a generic melee hero, but they aren't released yet. We can assume this pile of artifacts will be opened up to the other generic HQs coming out with the codex.

GIFTS OF THE MOUNTAIN

Alarith Heroes only.

1. Hearthstone Amulet: 5+ FNP save.
2. Ebony Stone: Each time the bearer is affected by a spell or endless spell, you can roll a die. On a 4+ Ignore the effects of that spell on the bearer.
3. Magmic Hammer: If the bearer is a Wizard (Which the only one model to take this item is), add 1 to the number of mortal wounds inflicted by Arcane Bolt spells that are cast by the bearer.

• All 3 have their uses, but the Ebony stone is probably the weakest of the bunch as you should have no problem stopping any and all harmful spells headed your way via other means. The Amulet adds even more survivability to your already potentially hyper-tanky mages (between ignoring rend, the sanctum, and this, you could have a pretty annoying model to remove), and the Magmic hammer just adds more punch in case your don't need to buff any Alarith squads.

Great Nations

your bog standard subfaction list. We only have 6 so far, with a theoretical max of 10.

Syar

• Gleaming Brightness: All your Syar units get 2 Aetherquartz reserves instead of 1. With how powerful these boosts are, you'll definitely appreciate a second wave of these working without worry about Morale. Pair with a Cathallar to avoid a permanent -2 to your bravery.
• Command Ability - Deplete Reserves: If a Syar unit uses an aetherquartz reserve ability, you may pick another Syar unit within 18" that still has a reserve. You may spend that reserve to give them the same ability. Great for boosting your forces in a big charge
• Command Trait: Choose 1 enemy hero within 6" of this hero. That enemy hero must attack your general, and your general gets +1 to hit for attacks against that enemy hero. At first you're like why is there a melee trait for squishy mage only heroes army? This thing is pure troll, park your Cathallar 6" from Archaon and watch as he spends the rest of combat seething helplessly while she makes fun of his daddy issues from behind a wall of spears he can't attack.
• Artefact: The Perfect Blade Unmodified 3+ hits always hits, Unmodified 3+ wounds always wound, and unmodified 3s to save always fail. Would be great if you could give it to something other than a pansy wizard. (Will likely get a lot better when the more martial Heroes are released, as have been hinted at repeatedly in the Warhammer Community podcast)

These guys will make your aetherquartz last much longer, and feel more impactful. The meth lab workers among the Lumineth, hence their larger stash. A Cathallar is pretty much a requirement in this army because otherwise your troops will have the bravery of most Skaven troops after blowing their reserves. Once the Vanari Lord Regent/Loreseeker comes out, you'll want them as the general so you'll actually have someone reasonable to give the perfect blade to.

Iliatha

• Unity in Purpose: Once per phase, after a Iliatha Vanari uses a command ability, you may select another Iliatha Vanari within 3". That unit gains the same ability for free.
• Connected Souls: +2 Bravery to all Vanari and Aelemantari troops, making up your your mediocre base bravery. You can use an Aetherquartz now and still be in a better bravery position than normal
• Command Ability - Strike in Unison: During your shooting or combat phase you may select one Iliatha Vanari unit with 2 or more models and they reroll hit rolls of one.
• Artefact - Simulacra Amulet: The Stacy Simulacra Amulet vs The Becky Phoenix Stone. The first time the bearer dies, roll a dice. On a 4+ heal them back to full.

If you're a sucker for good 'ole High Elf aesthetic, then this is your choice. While it doesn't explicitly buff your aelementari stuff, it doesn't mean they don't fit in with the +2 bravery. This will probably be your best choice if you wanna go for quanitity rather than quality, though you're still going to be fairly elite.

Zaitrec

• Lambent Mystics: The first cast, dispell, or unbind from *EACH* wizard in your army gets +1 every command phase. Each wizard hero knows one extra spell, and each wizard in the army gets the spell overwhelming heat in addition to the spells they know.
• Fast Learner: General can dispel 1 additional spell and can reroll the second unbinding roll.
• Artefact: 6+ shrug for MWs, +2 if Teclis is on the battlefield
• Overwhelming Heat: Casts on 7. Enemy unit within 24" has halved movement, and if you roll a die and its equal to or higher than their save, they take D3 MWs. It's a solid little spell, but you'll usually be casting if you've already done everything else.

The magic choice. Consider taking Teclis with this Great Nation to get the most out of them. Or don’t, as they look to work fine without Mr. T-pose. Obviously protecting your mages is paramount and if the heroes die early you're pretty much screwed. ALWAYS combine this with the twin stones for more magic shenanigans.

Ymetrica

• Battle Trait Ignore up to -2 Rend for units in Mountain Stance, instead of -1
• Command Ability: End of combat phase, can use Tectonic Force again against another enemy unit within 1"
• Command Trait: When you pick this guy to fight, instead of fighting you can pick an enemy unit within 1" and deal D3 MW on a 2+.
• Artefact: +1 Attack to chosen weapon, 6+ Shrug, and 5+ Spell ignore

Obviously, this one is meant of Alarith units, so you should be going with a stoneguard, mountain spirit and stonemage army for this one. This one seems likely to change with the new codex to account for all the new units.

Helon

• Gale of Killing Shafts: All Helon missile units within 3" of an enemy gain +1 attacks.
• Skyrace grand Champion: Your general can reroll one run, charge and casting roll per battle.
• Gone Like the Wind: At the end of combat you may pick one Helon unit that is within 12" of a Helon hero. That unit may move but not run.
• Metalith Dust: Once per battle you may select one enemy unit within 3" of the bearer. That unit suffers -1 to hit and wound rolls until the end of the phase.

You pick this one if you REALLY want to piss your opponent off. Giving you ranged units extra shots and the ability to escape from close quarters combat will drive them to want to bash your face in with a hammer. I guess it's also great if you want to go with a Hurakan themed army.

Spell Lores

• Power of Hysh: With a cast value of 6, it can be cast on any unit with Sunmetal Weapons, and allows them to dish out mortal wounds on a 5+ instead of a 6+. Very, VERY good, especially on bladelords or sentinels.

<tabs> <tab name="Lore of Hysh">

1. Speed of Hysh: Casts on 5 Double the movement of a friendly unit within 18" of the caster. Amazing for sprinting onto objectives, stealing away an important enemy charge, or slinging some cavalry almost 30" across the board.
2. Solar Flare: Casts on 8. Pick a point on the battlefield within 10" of the caster. If there is an endless spell there, dispel it. If there is a unit there, roll # of models dice, Each +6 does 1 MW and until next hero phase -2 to enemy wizards cast, unbinds, and dispels. Very useful in mirror matches.
3. Lambent Light: Casts on 5. Pick an enemy unit within 18", you can reroll missile weapon attacks against that unit until your next hero phase. Remember you can reroll even if you don't miss. Your other "auto-include" if you're following the competitive route of a decent number of archers.
4. Ethereal Blessing: Casts on 6. Give Ethereal to a friendly unit within 18". Remember that this also includes positive buffs like cover or drugs. Think before you cast.
5. Total Eclipse: Casts on 8. Until next hero phase, your opponent has to spend 2 CP instead of 1 when using command abilities. Easily our most trolly spell, use it to absolutely cripple some of the stronger combinations in the game by stopping almost all Command ability shenanigans. You should almost always have this, just in case.
6. Protection of Hysh: Casts on 8. Give friendly units wholly within 9" of the caster 5+ FNP. Doesn't stack with Teclis' sadly.

</tab> <tab name="Lore of the Mountains">

1. Unyielding Calm: Casts on 4. Unit wholly within 18" doesn't have to take Battleshock tests. Super nice if you didn't bring Eltharion for some reason.
2. Crippling Vertigo: Casts on 6. Pick an an enemy unit within 18" of the caster. Until your next hero phase, roll 2d6 each time the unit tries to make a normal move, pile in, or charge. If the roll is higher than the unit's bravery, it cannot make that move. The most obnoxious spell in this tree, use it to even further stall that big monster who got hit by your stonemage's signature spell.
3. Voice of the Mountains: Casts on 6. -2 Bravery to all enemy units until end of turn, and then -1 until your next hero phase.
4. Living Fissure: Casts on 6. Draw a 1mm line to a point 9" from the caster, on a 2+ deal D3 MWs to a unit that lines passes over
5. Entomb: Casts on 7. Pick an enemy model within 18" and visible to the caster. Roll a dice, if the result is higher than the model's Wound characteristic, it is slain. If you roll a 6 and it is not enough to kill, deal D6 MW instead.
6. Assault of Stone: Casts on 8. Choose an enemy unit wholly within 24" and visible to the caster. Roll a number of dice equal to the casting roll. For each result *lower* than the enemy unit's save value, they take 1 MW. Rolls of 1 or 2 never deal a mortal wound and Saves of "-" count as 6 for this rule. Really god for digging through chaff, but not much else.

</tab> <tab name="Lore of the Winds">

1. Calming Zephyr: Casts on 6. A friendly Lumineth unit wholly within 16" of the wizard heals d3 wounds and ignores battleshock for the turn. Pretty solid for support.

</tab> <tab name="Endless Spells">

1. Sanctum of Amyntok: 30 points, creates a triangle around the caster and now counts as part of their model. Gives the enemy -1 to hit against the caster, gives the caster +1 to their save and a 50/50 shot to deal some MWs to anyone standing too close. Cheap and a good way to protect your squishy wizard, plus since the spell counts as part of their model, it makes their bubbles slightly bigger, which is good for those rules which require the unit to be "Wholly within" range.
2. Hyshian Twinstones: 30 points, starts at 1 and gets a charge every time a spell is cast within 12 inches of it (maxes out at 6). While within 12" of it, your wizards can choose to add the value of the charges to their casting roll. Easily your best endless spell. As per the FAQ on its order of operations, after one spell is cast, it can give the rest of your wizards within range a permanent +2 to cast every single time. This means you're looking at a +4 to cast on nearly every spell you sling if you bring Teclis and Zaitrec. Since our stuff is expensive, if you have <100 points left over, bring it. Always.
3. Rune of Petrification: 70 points, subtracts 1 from the run and charge rolls of non-Lumineth within 6, and does d3 Mortal Wounds to non-Lumineth within 6 on a 4+ at both the start and end of both players movement phases. That's 3d3 minimum if your opponent moves out of range on their first turn. If you get a double turn that's 5d3 if they can move out of range at the first opportunity. It's a good way of controlling enemy movement, but it's expensive. Probably the hardest to use of the three, plus being more expensive than both of the other spells combined means this is less than ideal most of the time, but still holds potential.

</tab> </tabs>

Unit Analyis

Named Leaders

• Archmage Teclis and Celennar , Spirit of Hysh (660 pts): One of the dual gods of Hysh and another of the big literal god-tier models. He went from "the best wizard who's not a daemon, demigod or Slann" to "gives Greater Daemons penis envy and makes Slann second-guess themselves". While he's not a slouch in CC, he shouldn't try to take on big scary things alone, as he'd rather be slinging spells and ruining your opponents day.
  • He can cast 1, 2, or 4 spells. Depending on the number of spells he choses, they cast at differing values (1 spell meaning a 12 with no unbinding allowed, 2 spells means a 12, but otherwise normal, and 3/4 spells going off on a 10)
  • Celennar’s Aura: +1 to cast, dispel, and unbind to everyone within range. Keep this in mind for when you cast the twinstones in a Zaitrec list for +3-8 on your casts.
  • Can auto dispel 1 endless spell in your hero phase and auto unbind 1 enemy spell in their hero phase, and can still unbind unlimited enemy spells after his auto-unbind.
  • Friendly units in Celennar's aura ignore spells on a 4+, and bounces a handful of MWs at an enemy within 18" of said unit when it works.
  • Spells: (1) Protection of Teclis: 10 to cast. 5+ FNP within 18", can't be cast same turn as Hysh Protection. (2)Storm of Searing White Light: 10 to cast. Roll a dice for each enemy unit within 18" and visible. 1, nothing happens; 2-4 D3 MW, 5+ D6 MW. Oh, plus every spell from both Lumineth trees (Presumably all 3 Lumineth trees when the new codex drops)

• Light of Eltharion: (220 pts) Eltharion returns to us as a living suit of armor. A melee beat-stick with ethereal bonuses, a ranged d3 mortal wound shot, and a massive leadership bonus tied to his command ability. He wants to aim at a character and rip and tear untill it is done. Once your enemies duelists/buffs/characters who looked at you funny are down, aim Eltharion at whatever you want and have fun. Tanky, killy, and obnoxious, Eltharion is easily one of your best HQs.

• Avalenor, the Stoneheart King: (360 points) The Mega Moo himself. Avalenor is a great support character for your army, He has a 30” ranged attack which can do D6W at rend 2 (range decreases with damage) and has 6 attacks (7 if it didn’t make a charge move this turn) that are Rend 1 with 5 Damage each in melee. He also has a debuff aura which makes all enemy units within 12” have a -1 to hit, which is awesome when he's properly positioned in the middle of your front line. He also has a command ability which can give D3 Alarith Aelf units +1 attack, sorry other moontains. All these nice things get a bit worse with damage taken, but if you have a Stonemage within 12 of him, he can pretend to be max health, so keep your little mage friend safe. His last ability, Elder wisdom, allows a hero within 6" to use a command ability for free next turn, so keep him within grumbling advising range of your dudes.

• Sevireth, Lord of the Seventh Wind: Just as Avalenor is king of the earth-moos, this guy is likely the most powerful of the wind-kitsunes Foxes, get our of here you weeby bastards. Expect general ranged, speedy shenanigans any synergies akin to the moontains with a minor buff for all and a focus on working with his wind buddies.

• Ellania and Ellathor: The new hot pair of Elven twins, one of whom is a master mage and the other a peerless warrior. This totally-not-Tyrion-and-Teclis combo will probs take the place of them, especially since one serves Tyrion and the other serves Teclis. Expect something along the lines of syll'esske, with rules to deal with them being 2 goobs on one base. TO no one's surprise Ellathor's not-tyrion new sword is terrifying, with damage equal to the turn number and a one-off batch of mortal wounds in a line a la Sunfang. Their neat gimick is that they can be taken as allies with any army who's general has the Order Keyword and can generate Command Points on a 4+ if they are within 3' of them. Internationally focused elves? What a unique and interesting idea, cough cough.

• Lyrior Uthralle, Warden of Ymetrica: The head general of the Lumineth and Tyrion's right hand man. He's your named lord-regent, and much like the other forms of named "melee HQ on bigger than average mount" that AOS released, he'll probably be a bit better, but a bit less flexible than his normal form. If his lance wounds a Chaos or Daemon Keyword model, he automatically does 3 damage instead of d3, but it still only has 1 attack, so don't get too excited about it. It's worth noting he lets you get more CP when you don't have Teclis hanging around, so there's probably an awful lot more to still see.

• Myari Lightcaller: (220 pts) The new character from the Warhammer Underworlds: Direchasm box set. While he’s a single model unit, he must be accompanied by his retinue, and their points are included in his points cost. Same stat-line as the Stonemage, he trades tankyness for a decent shooting attack and okay close combat. His Scryowl Familiar adds 1 to his casting, unbinding and dispelling rolls and, similar to the Sentinels, can choose a unit 24” away and out of line of sight to have LOS on. His unique spell, Dazzling Light subtracts 1 from hit rolls from missile weapons that target him, or a unit wholly within 6” of him. Mathematically, this will mean you can fit a Cow Mountain in this bubble, giving a -2 modifier to hit when stacked with Avalenor’s Guardian of Hysh ability.

• Myari’s Purifiers: (220 pts) A separate unit from Myari Lightcaller, but included in his points cost. You get one Bladelord, one Sentinel, and one Stoneguard. The Bow gets two shots, but only has the 18” profile, the Mallet retains the Crushing Blow ability to do extra damage, and Greatsword and Bow are both Sunmetal weapons, but they cannot access Power of Hysh. Their Guardians ability is their saving grace, allowing them to intercept a wound or mortal wound on Myari Lightcaller while he is within 3”. Basically, they’re here to be a tax to bringing Myari, which was a bit of a pain before all the new HQs got announced.

Leaders

• Alarith Stonemage: (130 pts) Floaty cow-kin him/herself. You will be seeing him in every list with Cow Elves (Stonegaurd) and Spirits of the Mountain. Fairly squishy at 5 wounds and only a 5+ save, until you remember he is ignoring Rend 1 (and Rend 2 in YMETRICA armies) among other defensive buffs. She is your standard 1 cast/1 unbind wizard that provides a powerful buff in the form of his STONEMAGE STANCE. In the start of the combat phase, the Stonemage can strike a pose that allows every ALARITH AELEMNTIRI WHOLLY WITHIN 12 inches an additional Rend on their melee weapons in exchange for not making a pile in move. Easy Rend 2 on all my Stoneguard? Yes please. His spell, Gravitic Redirection is cast on a 5+. The stonemage gains fly, and picks an enemy units within 18", cutting their speed in half and turning off fly. It also does a mortal wound, but that's definitely not the main point. Pick the enemy's big flying threat and laugh at the waster 400+ points. S/He's got a pretty standard mage melee statline, but his/her real job is to buff till the cows come home. If you can't tell, the model's sex is hard to tell, go elves!

• Scinari Cathallar: (140 pts) These professional mourners are excellent at debuffing foes and mitigating the drawbacks of crystal meth aetherquartz. Aside from the obvious Scinari benefits, she also gains the Emotional Transference ability, allowing her to target any Lumineth unit within 18" and let them ignore battleshock. What's more, if that unit lost models, you can later target an enemy with 18" and add their casualties to their bravery roll. Basically her job is to ruin the fun your opponent thought he was having when his Scary charge killed 15 elves.

• Scinari Loreseeker: LOREMASTERS OF HOETH RETURN TO US NOW, AT THE TURN OF THE TIDE. These melee mages run around and loot "dangerous" magics to prevent anyone but the Lumineth from using them. Pair with bladelords and other Vanari units to relive the height of high elf culture.

• Scinari Calligrave: A new wizard who's job it is to un-chaos lands he visits. Expect terrain shenanigans and anti-daemon rules or general buffs. He's totally not a rune priest, don't tell the Dwarves.

• Hurakan Wind Mage: A cloud riding mage who makes you fast boys even *faster* with access to some meme-tier relics to keep him slippery. His command ability lets your ranged kanga-cavalry split in-and-around enemy units even better.

• Vanari Lord Regent: Your new generic melee hero on a bomb ass amalga-mount. His addition means you finally have something other than wizards to give those melee focused artifacts to, as well as an HQ who can actually keep up with the dream of a cav-spam list. He'll probably be very common for those of us who are tired of having to use named characters every game for the past 9 months. Especially since he has a unique spell that essentially allows him to give Power of Hysh to up to 3 friendly Lumineth Units. He's also much harder to hit while he has an Aetherquartz reserve on him. Outside of named characters he's by far your best melee hero choice.

• Vanari Bannerblade: An elf with a massive banner, so most likely a source of buffs, be that leadership or other cool bonuses. more to come soon(TM).

Battleline

• Auralan Wardens: (Battleline, 120pts, Min:10, Max:30) The Elven phalanxes finally return home, and they come equipped with 3" range Sunmetal spears pikes that get -1 rend and +1 to wound when they are charged. Like all the other Sunmetal weapons, each hit roll of a natural 6 causes a MW. The unit champion comes with a -1 rend sword, a one-use mortal wound bomb used at the start of the combat phase. On top of that he is a wizard as long as there are at least 5 models in the unit. All this combined with the shining company bonus makes these guys amazing charge screens for your archers and objective holders. Wardens are the only unconditional Battleline unit of the Lumineth. But for every unit of Auralan Wardens, you can take a unit of Auralan Sentinels or Auralan Dawnriders as Battleline.

• Auralan Dawnriders: (Conditional Battleline, 130pts, Min:5, Max:20) Their Deathly Furrows ability grants bonuses for attacking infantry: 1 additional attack for all weapons (ie rider & mount) if the target has 2 wounds or 2 additional attacks if the target has 1. This *ONLY* works against units without mounts, so try to aim for infantry if you can. This Translates to a lot of dead chaff and 1-wound elite infantry. If speed is your game, cast speed of Hysh on them and you'll be looking at a 28" standard move, meaning you have no excuse to not pick the perfect charges.

• Vanari Auralan Sentinels: (Conditional Battleline, 140pts, Min:10, Max:20) More MWs, delivered at a distance & w/o line of sight. While the spear elves poke & hold the line against heavy hitters (or Stoneguard, if that's how you swing) with your horses mulching chaff, Sentinels are ideal assassins- pumping mortal wounds into the opposing (support) heroes from 30" away with Sunmetal arrows. Since mortal wounds trigger on natural 6+ (Or 5+ with Power of Hysh) 'Look out, Sir!' does not help those supporting heroes. Conveniently their bows have a second firing mode that deals more consistent normal damage with higher Rend, this is at a "shorter" range though (18") so really is more for supporting your spears or whatever flavor of tarpit needs the firepower after the opponent's general is kaput. Remember that the unit leader does not have a bow, so to maximize shooting and mortal wounds taking max size units is probably better. Remember that rules that remove specific models can remove your ability to fire out of line of sight if they kill the squad leader.

• Alarith Stoneguard: (Conditional Battleline, 100pts, Min:5, Max:15) Your elite infantry choice and a battleline if you're playing Ymetrica. They come in two types, a dual handed diamondpick hammer or stone mallet with -1 rend and a captain with *OPTIONAL* dual hammers for more attacks. If you roll an natural 6 with the stone mallets you get 1 extra damage and if you get a 6 with diamond picks you get 1 mortal wound. This means mallets are better at killing crowds where as picks are better at dealing with armored units. Flexible elite choice depending on how you build them. Even if you're not focusing on Alarith units, a squad of 5-10 of these guys work great at one end of your phalanx to prevent flanking and losing your buffs. How historical.

• Hurakan Windchargers: Aelven archers riding battle tauntaun-furdino-kanga-joust mounts. They've got very interesting rules changing how they can consolidate before swinging (in any direction you want, without needing to be closer to enemies, and your consolidate move having fly so-long as you charged) expect a lot of technical movement shenanigans when the codex drops.

• Vanari Bladelords: Swordmasters reborn. Now you can have heavy infantry without the need for stupid hats/conversions, HOORAY! Each one comes with a sunmetal greatblade they can use in one of two ways: either a single high rend swing that auto-hits (to hunt characters and monsters), or an anti-horde mode based on how many enemies are nearby. Paired with their innate extra magic protection, and you have a flexible unit to plug gaps in your line, HOWEVER don't be overconfident. 10 of these guys only kill 3 chaos warriors a turn or ~13 marauders (or equivalents), so don't expect them to be fully self sufficient. Copy Alexander and prop them either behind your main line or on your flanks to prevent yourself from getting surrounded.

Artillery

• Vanari Starshard Ballista: Your new and only artillery unit. We can assume some updated form of the eagle-claw, but GW has mentioned that it shoots 2 bolts at a time that explode after they land, so maybe it'll be more akin to the stormcast ballista.

Behemoths

• Alarith Spirit of the Mountain: (340 pts). The Moontain. Your primary beat-stick and use for command points when you bring 'em. Outside of heroes, your only source of >1 damage attacks (well, the Stoneguard can get it on a 6 to wound with the Mallets) - at full health, his hammer is hitting on 3s, wounding on 2s, -2 rend, and 5 damage each. Keeping a stonemage within 12" of him allows you to ignore his damage table. Finally, his command ability allows you to add 1 to the attack characteristic of 1 unit's melee weapons.
• Hurakan Spirit of the Wind: Just like how their leader is a spiffy Fox-Archer, it's equally as likely that the base form would be some manner of flight-footed skirmishing archers. Imagine the Stormcast fly-archers dialed up to 11.

Terrain

• Shrine Luminor: A floating shrine meant to power up your already crazy strong mages. It lets you nominate a hero to be the shrine guardian, who gets to use their command ability for free, as well as giving heroes 1 free reroll on cast/deny/dispell a turn within 12", growing to 24" turn 2 onwards.

Battalions

• Alarith Temple: (120) MIN:690/MAX:1510
  • Requirements: 1x Avalenor or Alarith Spirit of the Mountain, 1x Alarith Stonemage, 1-3x Alarith Stoneguard.
  • Ability: At the start of your combat phase, a Stoneguard unit from this battalion that is wholly within 12" of a hero from the same batalion can reroll saves until end of phase but can only pile in 1".

If you are playing Ymetrica you may as well take this one with Avalenor. Makes your already annoyingly tough units even tougher.

• Auralan Legion: (120) MIN:780/MAX:2820
  • Requirements: 1x Scinari Cathallar, 2-4x Vanari Auralan Sentinels, with an equal amount of Vanari Auralan Wardens
  • Ability: Units within 3" of another unit from this Battalion can reroll saves of 1.

Again, make your top objective holders better at holding objectives. Cast Etherial Blessing vs Rend or otherwise use your Aetherquartz against that key charge and you will definitely keep control of that objective. This is particularly good for Iliatha armies, since you want to keep your Auralan units near each other anyway.

• Dawnrider Lance: (120)MIN:380/MAX:1810
  • Requirements: 2-3x Vanari Dawnriders
  • Ability: Units from this Battalion may reroll 1’s to hit on the charge.

A cute buff that pumps up the offensive half of your cavalry are a fairly manageable cost. Toss 2 10-man squads in here for a solid enough flanking force.

Super Battalion

• Teclian Vanguard: (80) MIN:2370/MAX:14,470
  • Requirements: 1x Archmage Teclis and Celennar, 0-1x The Light of Eltharion, 1x Alarith Temple, 1-3x Auralan Legions, 2x Dawnriders Battations.
  • Ability: While wholly within its own territory, every friendly unit from this Battalion has a 6+ Feel No Pain.

Not a terribly bad bonus, better than a poke in the eye with a Sunmetal Spear. If you're playing 2,500 point games for some reason, the value of this battalion is VERY mission dependent, depending almost exclusively on the size of the territory.

Allies

Oddly, the army may only take Idoneth Deepkin as allies. Some of them have gotten over their Teclis hate/fear boner, good for them (Or they've realized there's shit out there that's way scarier than their old absentee father and his new favorite kids). The Ankhelian half of the army patch the speed issues of Lumineth. You don't need more anvils, so the trident eels and alopexes are definitely the right choice. With the Broken Realms: Morathi update to their warscroll, a squad of 3 Alopexes with nets may be just the high rending damage, speed, and flying that this army is greatly missing. Alternatively you can take a soulscryer and two Alopexes to give your army some much needed backline deployment. Another option to consider is bringing an Ankhelian king and a single squad of trident eels for two mobile, multidamage units to help your cav deal with their primary weakness.

Your also have the Order option of Gotrek Gurnisson. For a similar point cost you are probably better off taking Teclis. While he doesn't benefit from speed of Hysh, his speed isn't as detrimental to the Lumineth compared to other armies since you're already slow a sin.

• Bundo Whalebiter: A Kraken-eater Mega-Gargant mercenary available to all Order factions. He could be a useful way to play up your strength by moving midfield objectives back into your defensive line, but his cost is a very large hurdle to deal with, as you're nearing teclis levels of points and cheese.

Tactics

• High Elf roleplaying: For those of us who remember the halcyon days of WHFB, focusing on your Vanari units can let you relive peak High-elf fun! 2 or 3 spear bricks and a lot of archers as your backbone, with a ballista and some totally-not-blademasters. Not the most effective list we could run, but good enough to handle most things. THis list gets significantly more viable come all the new generic HQs.

• Moontains march to war!: Building your list around 2 Alarith temples (1 of which has Avalenor) and a buncha hammers as ymetrica lets you build a surprisingly tanky list that hits like a bull. 2-3 moontains will mulch through anything short of a god or mega-gargant without much worry, though you should try to keep in mind that this list only has 2 casters, and none of the spells that really screw with your opponent.

• The Tryhard: Sticking Teclis, 2 units of minimum spears, and FAR too many archers with the twinstones enables you to run the competitive tryhard list of your dreams! No one likes you for doing it, and you'll have minimal actual fun, but it can be done for an easy way to guarantee a win against most factions.

Age of Sigmar Tactics Articles
General Tactics	Tactics Realm Of Battle Malign Sorcery Path to Glory Skirmish
Order	Cities of Sigmar Daughters of Khaine Fyreslayers Idoneth Deepkin Kharadron Overlords Lumineth Realm-Lords Seraphon Stormcast Eternals Sylvaneth
Chaos	Beasts Of Chaos Blades of Khorne Disciples of Tzeentch Hedonites of Slaanesh Maggotkin of Nurgle Skaven Slaves to Darkness
Death	Flesh-Eater Courts Nighthaunt Ossiarch Bonereapers Soulblight Gravelords
Destruction	Gloomspite Gitz Ogor Mawtribes Orruk Warclans Sons of Behemat
Others	Monstrous Arcanum Legends Old Rules